I would like to announce the beginning of a Saturday class at 11:00 on Saturday July 25th in Dog Brothers Martial Arts. The class will be held either in Hermosa Beach or Redondo Beach.

In DBMA we look for our training to be three things: fun, fit, and functional.

1) FUN: For us to continue our training over time and to grow in the Art and to grow into whom we are meant to be, the training should be Fun-- or perhaps that which once upon a time was called "the pursuit of happiness". (For those interested see the discussion at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics for the Aristotlean origin of the phrase "the pursuit of happiness" in our Declaration of Independence , , , but I digress , , , how rare)

2) FITNESS: Our life-long path as a warrior should produce good health, not batter us into crippling later years. The better one's health and animal vitality, the better the results-- in everday Life itself and in defense of Life. Although we are known for our "Dog Brothers Real Contact Stickfighting", in DBMA we are proud of both the efficacy and the safety of our training methods.

3) FUNCTIONAL: The training should produce results in the real world. If thanks to our training we see clearer into other people and if we see problems developing sooner, then we may be able to prevent things from coming to a head. Similarly, if we know who we are and what we can do, we should be less susceptible to allowing others to draw us into foolish incidents. And should it be necessary to act, we should have a good sense of how to operate effectively and to act with Consciousness in the adrenal state.

In closing I want to make it clear that ALL LEVELS ARE WELCOME. Certainly those inclined to "Dog Brothers Real Contact Stickfighting" will feel quite at home but I wish to make it perfectly clear that NO ONE WILL BE PRESSURED INTO DOING MORE THAN HE WANTS TO DO. This is a class for students and practitioners of all ages as well as competitive fighters-- in short, anyone looking to walk as a warrior for all his days.

If you are interested, please contact me at craftydog@dogbrothers.com and tell me a bit about yourself, including your goals, age, height, weight, fitness level, experience, training (what systems, which teachers, for how long, etc).

Didn't Aristotle come to the conclusion that happiness can only be achieved by a truly virtuous person, and that the greatest and true virtue was contemplation. I would think he'd put a pleasurable (fun) training session in a different category than the pursuit of happiness or achieving happiness. While we all know that training sessions, especially with great teachers, may be enjoyable, I wouldn't say Aristotle would include stickfighting practice as contemplation.

I'm suspecting that there are not many places where you can find on tangent on Aristotle on a thread announcing a class Crazy Cossack, please feel free to expound

@All:

The class met yesterday at the park where we used to hold our Gatherings of the Pack and had a fine time. After a tangent on apply our 6 foot staff method to lacrosse, we focused on Kali Tudo starting with the low cross of the Trigg 101 as a portal to angular crashing drives.

Due to my seminar schedule in August and the desire to take a family vacation, we decided to resume training on Saturday September 5th.